Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman kept up his campaign against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, calling him a "liar, coward and wimp" who would quit if he had any modicum of self-respect.
Liberman, who last month sent a letter to the Quartet calling for Abbas' replacement, said at a briefing with reporters that the PA leader neither represents anyone nor controls anything. He repeated his charge in the letter to the Quartet that Abbas was engaged in diplomatic terrorism, which he said was even worse than conventional terrorism.
Referring to the recent violent economic protests in the Palestinian Authority, Liberman said Abbas and his government were living "on borrowed time" and that it would be impossible to save them just as it was impossible to save other "rotten regimes" in the Arab world.
No contributions or transfers of money will help the PA, he said, coming out against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's decision this week to advance NIS 250 million in tax revenue transfers to the PA.
"He has simply lost all his credit with the Palestinians," he said. "It is not our business who will come in his place. If they want to conduct a dialogue [with Israel], we will do so. If they don't, we will know how to act with those who don't want a dialogue with us."
Senior Likud political sources have said that Liberman's attacks on Abbas were motivated by a sense that the elections are around the corner, and that he was looking for an issue that would resonate with the electorate. Previous issues Liberman has championed, such as the haredi draft, have been usurped by others, the sources said.
Liberman termed the Oslo accords the worst diplomatic mistake Israel has made since 1948.
Weighing in on the friction with the US over the Iranian nuclear issue, Liberman said this was not the first time there are difference between the US and Israel. But, he said, Jerusalem's relationship with the US was a cornerstone of Israeli foreign policy. "All disputes should be handled outside of the media [and not in the form] of a public discussion," he said.
Liberman also defended fellow Israel Beiteinu MK and Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, saying that although his behavior is not comparable to that of United Torah of Judaism MKs Menachem Moses or Israel Eichler, the allegations levied against him this week in a Channel 2 report by a former bodyguard were far from the truth. The body guard accused the minister of missing work – including a critical cabinet meeting dealing with the release of Gilad Schalit -- because of his partying, which allegedly included drinking and frequenting strip clubs.
Liberman said that what Misezhnikov did in his free time did not interest him, and that what he was interested in was how he performed as a minister. In that capacity, Liberman said, Misezhnikov has performed very well, as attested by a tourism industry that is booming.
Front Page Features